Free Workout Plan: Chest Workout and Exercises



Each chest workout found in the free workout plan section below is designed to help you build muscle fast by hitting all the area of your chest.




When designing a chest workout, you must target your pectorals from several different angles. This free workout plan targets not only the upper and lower pecs, but also the inner and outer chest muscles as well.

By targeting all areas of the pectorals, you will build muscle fast, and have a well defined and aesthetically pleasing torso.

For more information on how to build muscle fast in your chest, click here.

The foundation of any chest workout, including the free workout plans below, should be multi-joint, or compound, pressing exercises. Using compound movements is one of the fastest ways to build muscle.

Barbell Presses for Your Chest Workout

Barbell presses are performed using a barbell. A barbell is a piece of fitness equipment, generally 7 feet in length. It is 1 inch in diameter, and weight 45 pounds (20 kilograms). The weight is changed by adding iron plates to either side of the bar. When performing any exercise using a barbell, you should use collars on the outside of the weights for safety.

Flat Barbell Bench Press

The most well-known of the presses that target the pectoral region is the flat bench press with the barbell.

The bench press targets the overall chest region during your chest workout with the pectoralis major as the primary mover in this exercise. The sternal (lower) region of the pectoralis major does most of the work for your chest with some help from the clavicular region. This is why people who focus primarily on the bench press to develop their chests during their chest workouts end up with a flat upper chest. The pectoralis minor assists in pulling the shoulder blade (scapula) forward as you extend your arms to finish the movement.

The barbell bench press is performed by lying face up on a flat bench with your feet firmly planted on the floor and eyes directly below the bar on the rack.

Grip the bar with your hands facing away from you, and slightly wider than shoulder width. When ready, have a spotter help you remove the weight from the rack and hold the weight over your chest.

Lower the weight in a controlled fashion to the lower portion of your pectorals. You should inhale as you lower the weight.

Once the bar touches your chest, press the bar away from your body until your arms are fully extended, exhaling once you push the weight past the most difficult portion of the lift (sometimes called the "sticking point"). Be sure to keep your back on the bench as you perform the exercise.

Free Workout Plan Substitutions: Machine Bench Press, Dumbbell Bench Press, Flat Bench Press on Smith Machine

Variations of the Bench Press

Simply because it is the most popular exercise does not mean that you should rely on the flat barbell bench press solely in your chest workout.

You will notice several variations of the bench press in each chest workout in the free workout plans section below, and also in the many free workout plans located on our free workout plans page.

Incline Barbell Bench Press

To target the upper (clavicular) chest region and fill out your upper chest, you should perform the incline bench press in your chest workout.

The incline of the bench should be between 30 and 45 degrees (see picture below). As the incline goes from -45 degrees (a decline bench press), to 0 degrees (the flat bench press), to 45 degrees (an incline bench press), to 90 degrees (the military, or shoulder press), the primary muscles being worked progresses from the sternal region of the pectoralis major, to the clavicular region of the pectoralis major, to the deltoids (shoulders). For details, see the picture below.

The execution of the incline bench press is similar to the flat bench press. The basic set up is the same.

Place your feet firmly on the floor and head, shoulders and hips pressed against the bench. Use an overhand grip that is slightly wider than shoulder width. Be careful not to use too wide of a grip. Not only will you decrease the range of motion of the exercise, limiting your ability to build muscle fast, you may put undue stress on the shoulder girdle, causing injury.

When performing the incline barbell bench press in your chest workout, lower the bar in a controlled fashion to the upper chest, to the area just below your Adam's apple and slightly above your clavicle, inhaling as you lower the weight, and exhaling once you pass the sticking point of the lift.

Free Workout Plan Substitutions: Machine Incline Bench Press, Dumbbell Incline Bench Press, Incline Bench Press on Smith Machine

Decline Barbell Bench Press

The decline bench press targets the lower, or sternal, part of your chest in your chest workout.

The bench should be at a decline of between 30 and 45 degrees (see the picture below). You should use a bench that has rollers to hold your feet in place while in the decline position.

Again, perform the exercise similar to the flat bench press. With your feet firmly under the rollers, press your head, shoulders and hips against the bench.

Use an overhand grip that is slightly wider than shoulder width. Lower the bar in a controlled fashion to the lower chest, even with your nipples. Again, inhale as you lower the weight, and exhale as you pass the sticking point.

Free Workout Plan Substitutions: Dumbbell Decline Bench Press, Decline Bench Press on Smith Machine

Free Workout Plan - Chest Workout Bench Angle

Dumbbell Presses for Your Chest Workout

What are dumbbells? The dumbbell is a type of free weight. It is essentially a mini version of the barbell that is held in one hand. For this reason, you often find dumbbells in pairs. There are two basic varieties of dumbbells - those where the weight can be adjusted by changing plates on the bar, and those that have a fixed amount of weight.

Dumbbells are used in all types of weight training, the most popular of which are presses, flyes and curls. We are focusing on presses and flyes on for the chest workouts at the bottom of this page.

When performing presses and flyes with dumbbells, you are able to isolate each side of the pectoral region independently while simultaneously increasing your range of motion, allowing you to build muscle fast.

You will not be able to handle as much weight with dumbbell presses in your chest workout as you would with the barbell presses, therefore you should mix dumbbell movements with barbell movements in your chest routine. The free workout plan section below has workouts that mix and match movements so that you get the best from each type of exercise.

Additionally, feel free to substitute any of the exercises provided in the substitutions section for each exercise.

Flat Dumbbell Bench Press

This is a variation of the classic flat barbell bench press described above. It is a compound movement that is included in several of the free workout plans at the bottom of this page.

The dumbbell bench press is performed by lying face up on a flat bench with your feet firmly planted on the floor.

Grip the dumbbells in each hand with your palms facing away from you. Your arms should be fully extended above your chest. Lower the weight to the sides of your chest in a controlled manner to the sides of your chest. Press the weight upward, bringing the weight together above the chest at the top.

As with the other exercises, you should inhale as you lower the weight, and exhale as you move the weight past the sticking point.

Free Workout Plan Substitutions: Machine Bench Press, Flat Bench Press on Smith Machine, Barbell Flat Bench Press

As with the barbell presses above, there are several variations of the dumbbell bench press you can use in your chest workout. These exercises target different areas of the chest as you change the angle of incline and decline of your bench in each free workout plan listed below.

As the incline goes from -45 degrees (a decline bench press), to 0 degrees (the flat bench press), to 45 degrees (an incline bench press), to 90 degrees (the military, or shoulder press), the primary muscles being worked progresses from the sternal region of the pectoralis major, to the clavicular region of the pectoralis major, to the deltoids (shoulders). For details, see the picture above.

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press

The incline barbell bench press targets the upper (clavicular) chest region in the free workout plan.

The incline of the bench should be between 30 and 45 degrees (see picture above).

The execution of the incline dumbbell bench press is similar to the flat bench press. The basic set up is the same. Place your feet firmly on the floor and head, shoulders and hips pressed against the bench. Grip the dumbbells in each hand with your palms facing away from you.

Lower the dumbbells in a controlled fashion to the shoulders (your hands should be just outside your shoulders at the bottom of the lift), inhaling as you lower the weight.

Press the weight upward and inward, bringing the weight together above your eyes at the top of the lift. Exhaling once you pass the most difficult portion of the lift.

Free Workout Plan Substitutions: Machine Incline Bench Press, Barbell Incline Bench Press, Incline Bench Press on Smith Machine

Decline Barbell Bench Press

Like its cousin above, the decline dumbbell bench press targets the lower, or sternal, part of your chest during your chest workout.

The bench should be at a decline of between 30 and 45 degrees (see the picture above). You should use a bench that has rollers to hold your feet in place while in the decline position.

Again, perform the exercise similar to the flat barbell bench press. With your feet firmly under the rollers, press your head, shoulders and hips against the bench. Use an overhand grip (hands facing your feet), holding the barbells together above you chest.

Lower the weight in a controlled fashion to the outside of the chest. Again, inhale as you lower the weight. Press the weight back to the starting position in an arc, bringing the weight together above the chest. Exhale as you pass the sticking point.

Free Workout Plan Substitutions: Barbell Decline Bench Press, Decline Bench Press on Smith Machine

Dumbbell and Cable Flyes for Your Chest Workout

For a description of the dumbbell, click here.

Flyes are isolation exercises for the chest. They use only on joint, the shoulder, to perform the exercise. This allows you to target various portions of the chest with minimal involvement from other muscle groups during your chest workout.

Because of this, flyes are used as a finishing exercise in most of the free workout plans you will find on this site. However, you may use the flye at the beginning of a chest workout if your are using pre-exhaust techniques in your routine.

Remember, you are not able to use as much weight with flyes in your chest workout as you do with the compound movements in the free work out plans.

The basic movement of all flye exercises is to move your arms in a wide arc. In any of the movements described below, as you lift the dumbbells, visualize hugging a barrel. This is the basic motion of the exercise.

Finally, any of the flye exercises can be performed either with dumbbells or with cables in your chest workout. Cables have the benefit of providing constant tension throughout the movement (you lose some of the tension on the muscles at the top of the lift with dumbbells). Also,the cables are a safer alternative when no spotter is available, so feel free to substitute cables for dumbbells in any free workout plan that you choose.

Flat Bench Flyes

The flat bench flye targets the whole chest region, with the primary mover being the sternal (lower) portion of the chest with help form the upper (clavicular) portion. When performed strictly, the movement will also target the inner portion of the chest.

The flat bench flye is performed by lying face up on a flat bench with your feet firmly planted on the floor, and your head, shoulders and hips in contact with the bench, similar to the flat bench presses mentioned above.

Grip the dumbbells or cables in each hand with your palms facing inward and arms extended above your chest with a slight bend in your elbows (visualize hugging a barrel).

Inhale as you lower your arms to your sides in an arc. When the weight is level with your chest or slightly below, lift the arms, again in an arc, back to the starting position, in the barrel hugging motion. Exhale during the last half of the movement.

Squeeze your muscles hard at the top of the movement for maximum inner chest development.

Free Workout Plan Substitutions: Pec Deck Machine, Cable Crossover

Once again, by changing the angle of the bench in your chest wokrout, you can get great variety in the flye movements.

As the incline goes from -45 degrees (a decline flye), to 0 degrees (the flat bench flye), to 45 degrees (an incline flye), to 90 degrees (the military, or shoulder press), the primary muscles being worked progresses from the sternal region of the pectoralis major, to the clavicular region of the pectoralis major, to the deltoids (shoulders). For details, see the picture above.

Incline Flyes

The incline flye targets the upper (clavicular) chest region in your chest workout.

The incline of the bench should be between 30 and 45 degrees (see picture above).

The execution of the incline flye is similar to the flat bench flye. The basic set up is the same. Place your feet firmly on the floor and head, shoulders and hips pressed against the bench. Grip the dumbbells or cables in each hand with your palms facing inward, arms extended above your head, with your arms fixed in the barrel hugging postion.

Lower the weight in an arc, using a controlled motion, to the shoulders or slightly below (your hands should be just outside your shoulders at the bottom of the lift). As always, inhale as you lower the weight.

At the bottom of the arc, reverse the motion and return the weight to the starting position above your chest in the barrel hugging motion, making sure that your arms and shoulders remain aligned throughout the movement.

Squeeze your muscles hard at the top of the movement for maximum inner chest development.

Free Workout Plan Substitutions: Pec Deck Machine, Low Pulley Cable Crossover

Decline Flyes

The decline flye targets the lower portion of your chest in your chest workout.

The execution of the decline flye is similar to the flat bench flye. The basic set up is the same. The bench should be at a decline of between 30 and 45 degrees (see the picture above). You should use a bench that has rollers to hold your feet in place while in the decline position.

With your feet firmly under the rollers, press your head, shoulders and hips against the bench. Grip the dumbbells or cables in each hand with your palms facing inward, arms extended above your lower chest, with your arms fixed in the barrel hugging position.

Lower the weight in an arc, using a controlled motion, to the sides of your chest. As always, inhale as you lower the weight.

At the bottom of the arc, reverse the motion and return the weight to the starting position above your lower chest in the barrel hugging motion, making sure that your arms and shoulders remain aligned throughout the movement.

Squeeze your muscles hard at the top of the movement for maximum inner chest development.

Free Workout Plan Substitutions: Pec Deck Machine, Cable Crossover

Free Workout Plans
Chest Workouts

Total Chest Routine #1 (Intermediate)

This free workout plan, designed for the intermediate weight lifter or bodybuilder, is a total chest workout designed to build muscle mass fast. The exercises hit all parts of the chest.

Lower Chest Routine #1 (Advanced)

This free workout plan, designed for the advanced body builder, targets the lower portion of the pectorals during your chest workout. This chest workout will help build mass in the sternal region of the pectorals.

Upper Chest Routine #1 (Advanced)

This free workout plan, designed for the advanced body builder, targets the upper portion of the pectorals during your chest workout. This chest workout will help build mass in the clavicular region of the pectorals.





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